Page 17 - Sphere No.31 (Jul 2012)

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Sphere 31
Atlantic region, where a combined total of more
than 175 million barrels have been extracted
since production began in 2005.
outside of north America, husky is also
considering horizontal drilling techniques
in developing some of its largest offshore
projects, including its natural gas discoveries
in the Asia Pacific region, as horizontal
drilling will maximise production in these
areas. “Although drilling a horizontal well
offshore is more difficult than a traditional
vertical well, most of the challenges
faced are to do with drilling offshore
in general,” said Mr Bartlomowicz.
“Thus, given the remarkable
efficiency in accessing the resources
and environmental friendliness of
horizontal drilling, the benefits greatly
outweigh the challenges.”
of course, drilling horizontal wells
has not come without its challenges
for husky. “Using horizontal wells
has introduced more complexity to
our operations, such as increased
torque and drag, and thus more stress
on the equipment,” explained Mr
Bartlomowicz. “Additionally, the overall
cost of delivering horizontal wells is
higher, so all operators must overcome
a learning curve before becoming
consistently good at delivering horizontal wells.
This is a challenge that the industry and husky
are still navigating today.”
today, as husky continues to respond to the
world’s changing energy needs, it employs some of
the top drilling and completions experts, pushing
the envelope with cutting-edge techniques that
will continue to contribute substantial value to
operations and keep husky at the top of Canada’s
oil production.
During the
steam-assisted
gravity drainage
(SAGD) process used at
Husky’s Sunrise Energy Project,
steam is pumped into the reservoir,
heating the bitumen so that it becomes thin
enough to be pumped to the earth’s surface.